Former PTA Treasurer Charged With Theft

LINDEN – A former Linden PTA treasurer has been charged with stealing approximately $8,000 of the organization’s money, officials from the Union County Prosecutor’s Office say.

Dawn Wagner, 38, has been charged with one count of theft and one count of misapplication of entrusted property, according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office. The former treasurer of the PTA at School No. 9 on Deerfield Terrace allegedly wrote checks to herself from PTA funds for personal purchases between August 2007 and May 2008, officials said.

Wagner was served with the charges on Monday at her home, officials said. Her first court appearance is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 9, before Judge Joan Robinson in Elizabeth. If convicted, Wagner faces up to five years in state prison, officials said.

An audit revealed that PTA funds were missing. Linden police were notified, but turned the case over to the Prosecutor’s Office because the PTA president is married to a Linden police officer. Officials said that PTA members cooperated in the investigation and no other members of the organization are involved in the case.